The Efficiency of Management by Working Around: The Case of Lebanese Healthcare Organizations

Management by Walking Around “MBWA,” also known as “management by wandering around,” is a common practice in healthcare institutions focusing on directly observing frontline work by managers and supervisors. Despite its popularity, to date, few scholarly studies have thoroughly examined the impact, consequences, and performance improvements of MBWA on healthcare institutions and, more specifically, in the Arab world. In this study, we investigated the influence of MBWA on hospital improvement within the Lebanese healthcare context. The research involves heads of departments observing their employees, seeking their opinions on work improvement opportunities, and collaborating with personnel to quickly identify and address problems. After receiving the participants’ acceptance through an informed consent form explaining the benefits, risks, and respect of anonymity to all participants, the study was conducted in 10 Class A hospitals, including 15 different medical departments and SBUs. The results indicated that using MBWA as an improvement tool had a positive impact on employee and department performance in Lebanese hospitals. To understand this outcome, a quantitative study was conducted using SPSS software to investigate the best problem-solving approach in compliance with MBWA. The study found that prioritizing simple tasks positively correlates with better overall performance, as it allows for quicker and more efficient action. Moreover, the study found that an approach focused on prioritizing the most critical issues did not significantly improve overall performance. However, assigning senior managers the responsibility of addressing identified matters led to better performance.